The Toronto Maple Leafs let the Connor McDavid show take over the network on Saturday night, with the Edmonton Oilers defeating the Leafs 6-3. McDavid scored two goals and added an assist, including a dazzling breakaway where he made the Maple Leafs defenders look like toddlers skating for the first time.

McDavid is one of those players you can only hope to contain. He’s as close to inevitable as it gets, but it was the way the Leafs essentially let the game collapse in their hands as the third period got underway that rubbed Leafs head coach Craig Berube the wrong way.

“I talked to the team after the game, our leaders got to take control of it a lot more than they are right now,” Berube said following the game on Saturday. “To me, it’s all a mindset. Whether you’re down a goal or up in the San Jose game, you just got to have more urgency and being more direct on how we want to play. We didn’t do it in the third period, two games in a row.”

Speaking to media at morning skate on Tuesday morning, Berube took an optimistic approach and said he expects his star players to answer the bell against the Chicago Blackhawks after a bad night.

“I think a good one,” Berube said when asked about what kind of response he’s expecting from his leadership group. “I think the conversations that I’ve had with them, and the last couple of days, they know where we’re at, they know they gotta be better, and I believe they will be.”

The word ‘adversity’ has been thrown around the Leafs media landscape for years now. The Leafs have battled a lot of it this year, between the inability to win more than three games in a row and the grocery list of injuries they’ve had to deal with so far this season. Despite this, Berube refuses to use these factors as an excuse for poor play and says he expects his team to come out stronger for it on the other side, especially since this is a franchise that’s used to a strong regular season.

“You know, you go through a lot of adversity throughout the season,” Berube said. “It seems like it’s been there for quite some time with different things, right? Injuries and goalies, there’s all types of things, so you just gotta keep pushing here. You know, the standings are tight, we all know that, but we need to start tonight and string some wins together, put ourselves in a better spot by Christmas time.”

The Leafs have five more games before Christmas, and bouncing back tonight seems imperative considering the circumstances. They’re against the Blackhawks, who they’ve already lost to once this year, only this time the Hawks will be without phenom Connor Bedard due to injury. Pair this with tonight being a night to honour longtime veteran play-by-play announcer Joe Bowen, and forfeiting two points here seems like a must.

The game gets underway Tuesday night at 7:00 pm EST.

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